The Dragon Born
by wolfofsheep
Summary: Penny's world changes when an Angel and his band of merry monsters saves her from a Cthulhu and tells her she is the vessel that holds the legendary "Dragon's Blood". AU... (possibly Shenny)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N_

_Okie-Dokie folks, this is a story straight out of my really twisted and over crowded head. This is an Alternate Universe story based off of characters I had created for an original story I planned a long time ago. The Big Bang characters still have their names and i__diosyncrasies, but I added something to them that makes them intriguing as well as an OC character of mine. I'm pretty sure this will turn into Shenny since I have absolutely no way of knowing how long this will be or how long it will take me to write (thanks to RL), but I promise you... It'll be one hell of a ride! *smiles*_

_So, I rated this T for the language but it might get a boost once I get my feet dipped in nice and deep. (pun intended *winks*)_

_Annnyyyways, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Penny popped her lips after spreading on the lipstick and smiled at herself in the mirror. She finally had herself a date and a reason to pull out her tight purple dress. She was tired of wearing her yoga pants and tank top all the time. She worked her ass off at the Pit Stop and never had any energy or time to do anything for herself. Being the only woman mechanic in the state of California was hard enough, but not being looked at as just a piece of ass by men was very hard to find, too. She finally found a nice guy. Zack wasn't the smartest rat in the maze, but he was sweet and had the body of a Greek God. She winked at herself in the mirror and laughed.

She looked at her reflection and tussled at her oddly glimmering golden hair she had since she was born and twisted it over her shoulder. She leaned in to look at her eyes. She did this every time she looked into a mirror. Her eyes were a torrent of fire. There was a touch of red around the pupil then a deep rust color that eventually flowed into an orange then the rest was amber. It baffled her mother to no end because her eyes were green and her father's were blue. How she got yellow and orange eyes was beyond her mother's comprehension. They let it go since she did have her mother's golden hair and her father's bushy brown eyebrows. Penny looked up at them and let out a rush of air through her nose; she'd have to tweeze those bad boys later.

She stood up straight and pushed down the fabric of the dress and smiled again. She took in a few deep breaths and nodded then moved out her bathroom and to her newly built, 1968, chrome and black Dodge Charger that she and her father worked on back in Nebraska before she moved to Cali. She named her 'Slugger'. She turned over the ignition and Slugger roared to a start. The vibration from the car's power gave Penny a woman's boner and she laughed at herself. She pulled out of her driveway of her small, but homey house and headed to the coast.

* * *

Zack met her at the beach beside the pier and they talked and held hands. He was tall and she had to careen her neck to look up at him, but it was worth the effort. He was handsome and gentle. His hand on her back never faltered to her ass. He only talked to her about cars, a female mechanic's destiny, she was afraid, but she didn't mind. Her foot touched the edge of the water and it felt as if she had been stabbed.

Penny squealed and grabbed her foot with one hand on Zack's shoulder. She looked at the edge of her foot, but there was no blood. Zack suggested they go to the pier and Penny agreed wholeheartedly. No one on the beach felt the pulse of energy ripple from the horizon to the coast… except the five shadowy creatures all converging onto the long, crowded pier.

* * *

Penny wrapped her arms around the Zack's arm as they laughed and talked about their first cars. Zack's was a mustard colored, 1984, Ford Thunderbird and its engine skipped more than kid playing hopscotch. Penny's was a rusty, 1989 Chrysler Laser. She tried to have sex in the back of it one time, but the guy got a bad cramp and ruined the night.

They were in the middle of sharing old car stories when they got to the end of the 2,745 foot long pier. They stopped and turned to each other and Zack smiled softly, "You are one hot woman, Penny Balaur. Even your eyes are on fire."

She was so enthralled with him and him into her that neither seemed to hear the screaming of the fishers as they dropped their poles nor began running further down the pier from them. As their lips met in a kiss, they didn't see the huge, snake like creature with the head of a squid and enormous bat like wings rise from the ocean's calm waters. The creature's huge tentacles lashed towards the couple just as they pulled away from their kiss. Penny's eyes opened slowly just as a tentacle swept in to grab her. She dove to the pier and the swiping monstrosity wrapped itself around Zack and yanked him to the beast's eye. The beast rejected Zack and launched him over its shoulder in utter rejection.

Penny screamed the man's name as he became no more than a black dot upon the sky and stared up in horror as a mass of tentacles came snaking towards her. She tried to get up quickly, but the ocean water made the wood slippery. There was a loud splashing noise as huge sheet of sharp ice slid between the huge monster and the pier; slicing the tentacles into wiggling mass of falling calamari. Three fell to the ocean beside the pier in a great triple splash, but another fell and destroyed the edge of the pier making the wood splinter and tilt downwards where her footing was leading her. She grabbed at anything while gravity pulled her towards the near 40 foot drop to the ocean as she screamed. There was a blur of light and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was at the entrance to the pier looking at the huge Kraken thing now battling a cat like creature with sword hands. Just as the tentacle infested monster collapsed to the ocean… Penny did the same to the pier.

* * *

Penny slowly regained consciousness, but her eyes were too heavy to open. She heard voices of multiple different males speaking and they were directed to her.

One sounded young and overly immature with a hint of a Jewish feedback, "This cannot possibly be 'The One'. I mean, she fainted like a dainty, purple morning glory flower."

Another spoke with a gruff in his voice and a slight Texan accent, "Do not forget that morning glory is an invasive weed that can smother all other plant life from existence. Let us not judge anything by its appearances, Wolowitz."

Another spoke with a deep accent from India, "I'm with Sheldon. There are some really weird things happening with her spirit energy."

There was another voice that spoke with a calming effect to it with a hint of a New Jersey accent within it, "It's her. The creature reacted to her blood on the beach. What we need to do is to get her somewhere safe so we can assess who or what is after her."

A woman's deep voice spoke next and when she spoke, it reverberated against Penny's eyes and seemed to unlock her heaviness, "It's definitely a 'who'. That Cthulhu didn't just rise from the bottom of the ocean on his own. There was a clear Diablos Scriptum etched in his flesh. Someone summoned him and that someone wanted this girl alive."

* * *

Penny opened her eyes and saw the clear blue sky with touches of seagulls high above. Suddenly, her sight was cut off by a cute, brown and black, small stuffed longhorn standing on its hind legs like a human. Penny blinked a few times trying to focus on what in the hell she was looking at. The bull tilted its head then waved its black hoofed forearm in a friendly matter and Penny sat straight up and gasped loudly.

She pushed away from the tilted head of the bull until her back hit something. She looked straight up and stared up at a long haired woman with two sets of eyes, a flattened down nose and a mouth that looked to be sliced almost to the back of her jaw. Her 'human' eyes were white and seemed to smoke like an eerie fog while the other set, just above her temple, were smoldering red. Penny felt like she was falling into a pit of eternal darkness and she screamed and jumped up to run but ran into the very firm but small chest of a 6 foot tall man she backed away from him slightly just to see what evil THIS one was, but she was met with the most electric denim blue eyes she had ever seen. It was as if fire met water and she felt a jolt in her soul.

Two hands gently fell to her shoulder and she jumped a little. She turned to see a shorter man with dark hair and faint marks seeming to drain from the far corners of his eyes. They looked like a flowing message of holy, ancient hieroglyphs. He wore a soft white color with a deeply faded pair of blue jeans. His eyes were a dull purple as if they'd seen the world end many times over, but he looked to be no more than 30 years old. He smiled softly, "Please, do not fear us. We are only here to help you."

She shook her head, "Help me? Help me with what, exactly?"

He looked around at all the people and creatures standing around her. Her eyes fell to each individual. The short, skinny man with a horrible bowl cut and the tightest pants on Earth, hugging on to the longhorn stuffed animal… The Indian in a long, tan trench coat with thick, dark sunglasses… The tall, skinny, and blue eyed man with brown and purple plaid… And the tall black haired woman-thing in a hoodie with her one pair of white and other red pair of eyes staring at her… then back to the short man again and he smiled, "You are the Dragon Born. The blood that runs through your veins is known as the 'Wote Nguvu'. When given willingly, the blood can intensify all magic, heal any ailment including death itself, give immortality and eternal beauty, and even open the mind to the vast knowledge of the universe. The Dragon's Blood within you is the most dangerous substance in any dimension. You, Miss Balaur, could be the end of the world. We are here to protect you from the ones who would seek the evil of your blood. I am Leonard Hofstadter, once the Angel of Protection, Sizajazel. These are my friends, Sheldon Lee Cooper, newly turned werewolf… Rajesh Koothrappali, an Ātmā Śarābī or Soul Drinker… Howard Wolowitz, an Alphatermed Alchemist and his girlfriend's soul in a stuffed animal, Bernie… And the Hellhound _Bachisya_, who is a Tantibus, but all you really need to know is that we call her Feral and she is a shape-shifter."

Each one nodded as they were introduced. Every word swirled inside her head as she slowly realized that the world she knew was a complete and total lie THAT or she just found the craziest fucking group of people with the strongest drugs, ever. She took in the information and just shook her head. She found them all staring at her, each with curious faces, and she sighed, "Ok… let's say that I believe all this bullshit. Why am I just now hearing about this 'Dragon' malarkey? I'm just a mechanic. I've never breathed fire or ate a knight and his horse… just fixed cars and trucks. I mean, I've given blood to Red Cross and to my doctors… does that mean they're overlords or something?"

The demon woman laughed at her jokes, but the men all seemed a little worried. Penny shook her head and turned around to walk back to her Charger but found herself in the living room of her house, "Wh-what the FUCK? Ho-how…" she turned back around and looked at the semi-circle of people and let her jaw hang loose. They were JUST at the pier, weren't they?

Leonard stepped forward with his half smile, "I'm sorry, but we were too exposed at the beach, please… pack up as many belongings as you can. Wolowitz, Raj, and myself shall set up a safe house. Sheldon, Bernie, and Feral will watch over you until you are ready. This is for the best, Miss Balaur."

Before Penny could even shoot an insult at the angel, he and the two men he named flashed in a blink of static and were gone. She balled up her fist and slammed it into the wall beside her. She did not like being told what to do by a man half her size.

"Annoying, ain't he?"

Penny turned to see the demon woman smile with her slit mouth. Sheldon groaned, "It is pronounced 'Isn't', I know you crawled out of hell, but you don't need to torture me with your horrible grammar."

Penny's anger subsided at the two's banter as Feral turned into a polar bear and snorted in the tall man's face. Sheldon just folded his arms and turned his back to her while shaking his head irritably. They looked like a brother and sister lashing out at one another. Penny sighed and looked down at the plush bull at her feet. Bernie rolled her button eyes and shook her and Penny gave a laugh. She bent down and picked up the stuffed animal and went to her room as she left the two 'body guards' in her living room. She placed Bernie on her bed and pulled her suitcase from underneath the bed.

Her house was a bit trashed, but her room was nearly spotless. She unzipped the bag and looked down at the emptiness, sadly. The last time she used this bag; she moved away from home. It was the sight of her father's tombstone that drove her off to California. Her mother, falling into the arms of some horn dog at the funeral, didn't even know she was gone until the following month. She never looked back. Everything she once was was hidden in the deep pockets of this very bag and seeped out once she opened it. Her father taught her about cars… taught her how to throw… taught her how to ride a bucking bronco… but the one thing her father taught her how to do; was to cry.

Penny wiped her face with the back of her hand and moved to her dresser drawer. She put all her 'comfy' clothes into the bag, even while she was still wearing her purple dress, and grabbed some shoes, as well. She filled up a book bag and another suit case with necessities. She groaned and looked at herself in the small mirror. She needed to change. She smiled down at Bernie and sat on the bed, "You don't mind unzipping me, do ya?"

The bull hopped up off the pillow and reached a black hoof up and unzipped her. Penny smiled, "Thank you, kind Bovine." Bernie put her two hooves up to her muzzle and laughed with no noise.

Penny let the dress fall to her sandals and she stepped out of its puddle. She wore nothing more than a dark purple, Victoria Secret bra and matching panties. She moved to a drawer that still had some clothes left and pulled out her pink and powder blue 'Juicy' pants and matching crop top and turned to the bed and was met with wide eyed, cobalt blue eyes.

Bernie covered her face with her plush arms but Penny just threw her chosen outfit on the bed and grinned, "See anything you might like to huff and puff, wolf boy?"

Sheldon swallowed, "A fairy tale oriented motif… how clever. Please know that Leonard has found a safe haven for you to inhabit and that he will be here to transport you in the coming minute. Make sure you are clothed before he arrives." The man, whose eyes never averted her own, closed as he turned and left the room. A smile began to grow on her face and she looked at the stuffed bull on her bed. She came to the conclusion that, whoever these 'people' were; she was really going to have a lot of fun with them.


	2. Chapter 2

Penny's jaw dropped as she stared at the elevator entrance spider-webbed with caution tape with Bernie sitting on her shoulder. She took a step back to look at the beginning of the staircase and whined as she dropped her bags and shook her head, "The FOURTH floor? Up? As in, walking up four flights of stairs?"

Feral sat down beside Sheldon as a bull terrier with two black slits where her second pair of eyes would be and chuckled. Sheldon rolled his eyes and groaned, "Good Lord woman, yes! Leonard gave specific instructions that you would be living in apartment 4B with Feral as your dog and Bernie as your stuffed animal. Leonard wishes for Rajesh, Wolowitz, and myself to live in the apartment across from you."

Penny feigned a crying tantrum and bent over to pick up her bags, "What. Ever."

Feral went first up the horrid hunter green carpeted staircase. She had one of Penny's makeup bags in her mouth. Penny went next, with Bernie on her shoulder, as she dragged her heavy suitcase behind her. It thumped against each stair as she went up. Sheldon was last and he had her book bag on his back and took cases in each hand. He spoke lividly, "I have a question that has confounded me. That man you were with on the pier; why do you not morn him?"

Penny's brows twitched at the question and she kept moving, "Why has that boggled you? It's really none of your business."

Sheldon sniffed, "That is true. It is none of my business."

Penny's brows furrowed as they reached the final turn before reaching the fourth floor and stopped in her tracks. Feral sits at the top of the stairs and looks down as Sheldon stops dead in his tracks. Penny furrows her brow and takes a step towards the 'newly changed werewolf' and speaks clearly, "I have never cried over anyone other than my father. I am sad that Zack is dead, but there is nothing I can do."

Sheldon's eye twitched and he stood up straight while looking her in the eye with his cooled blue eyes, "I once read that 'a dragon's heart never burns'. Have you ever heard of that saying? What am I saying; of course you haven't. It means that a dragon has no empathy. It is a defense mechanism scribed into the flesh of the first 'Dragon Born' so that none would ever be swayed by emotion."

Penny took a step back and took in the information. She looked down at her bare arms at her freckles and shook her head. Her eyes snapped back up at the man and she snarled, "So, the reason why I haven't found the right guy is because I was born NOT being able to love. Wwwell… that's great news." She took Bernie and flung her at Sheldon then grabbed the handle of her bag and rushed up the stairs in a fit of anger.

Feral stepped back to let the blonde past then looked down the stairs at the werewolf with a grin on her bull terrier muzzle, "You keep that 'brainier than thou' attitude up and she just might get you neutered."

Sheldon glared at the dog demon then looked down at Bernie hugging his chest who was shaking her head in disappointment.

* * *

Penny actually liked her little apartment. It wasn't at all small, but wasn't as big as her house. There was only one room and bathroom attached, but that suited her just fine. Bernie was riding Feral when they entered the apartment. Sheldon left her bags outside the door. That coward wasn't up for another round with an emotionless dragon bitch, she guessed. She didn't like the fact that a skinny werewolf knew more about her than she did.

She huffed as she moved around the apartment, putting her clothes up in the closet and dresser drawers available. She wondered if anything that happened today was on the news or if they found Zack's body in the ocean or if anyone had video on the monstrous squid snake. That was one thing she did notice about herself that Sheldon pointed out; emotions didn't stick with her for very long. She could brush off hatred, anger, sadness, and even love like it was a single fallen snowflake on her cheek. 'A dragon's heart never burns.' She had a cold heart… but it still thundered in her chest. She wasn't a monster. She knew because she WANTED to feel. She wanted it more than anything.

Feral and Bernie watched the blonde from the top of her bed silently. Penny couldn't believe that a plushie and a shape-shifting dog from Hell could look so cute. She smiled, "Alright guys. What's the protocol for this chain of protection thing?"

Feral, as the bull terrier cleared her throat, "Bernie and myself don't sleep. She's an inanimate object infused with a soul and super strength while I'm the hell hound of Nightmares. We're the most likely to not fall asleep while watching over you, but if things get rough… we got the guys next door."

Penny blinked and tilted her head back, "Ah. Great. Good to know. Uh… Yo-you, umm, you wouldn't give ME nightmares… would you?"

Feral gave a doggy smile and wagged her tail before jumping off the bed and heading to the living room. Penny looked at Bernie and blinked, "W-Would she?" Bernie just shrugged her blackened hooves.

* * *

Penny didn't enjoy a lot of things. She really liked her job because it gave her hands and mind something to do together. She really liked driving because it put her behind the wheel of something powerful. Yet, out of all the things she liked… she loved showers the most. It was pure heaven when the water cascaded down her skin. It was as if the water was extinguishing a burning flame underneath her skin. It was the only time she really felt like… touching herself. This time, she held back. There WAS a demon in her room and she didn't want to catch any 'knowing' looks.

She dried herself off and took the robe she brought and slipped it over her dampened flesh. She made her way from her new room to the living room and grabbed her phone off the coffee table. She wanted to see how far it was from her current location to the 'Pit Stop'. She was shocked to see that it was only two blocks away. She could walk there and not waste… any… gas, "Oh My GOD! Slugger! She's still at the beach! FERAL!"

The bull terrier seemed to burn out of nowhere, "You bellowed, my dragonaire?"

Penny grinned, "Dragonaire, huh? Funny. Yeah, so, is there a way for me to go get my car without calling the nerd brigade?"

Feral's body liquefied and quickly shifted back to her creepy human self with hoodie and baggy red cargo pants with chains and spikes, "Can't do, boss lady. Leonard wouldn't allow you to even make it past the first step down the stairs."

Penny didn't like the words 'allow' followed by 'you' in a sentence directed at her. She grabbed the key off the small table beside the door, "What do you mean he won't ALLOW ME? If I'm not mistaken, I'm still pretty much in charge of my life. Slugger is a part of my family and I'm not just going to abandon her."

She looked at the eerie, smoking white eyes of the less than amused hell hound and swallowed, "So there."

Feral 's slit lips curved up into a smile, "Hey… you do what you have to do, Dragon Breath. I'm just letting you know as somebody who has TRIED to do things on her own terms; what's gonna happen. I'll even go with ya, if you can get the great Angel's approval." She gave the blonde one more smile before bursting into ash and back to the bull terrier with a wagging tail.

Penny snarled at the door then rushed into her room and put on her mechanic's "uniform" with a torn Pink Floyd t-shirt, loosely faded jeans with the knees sliced, and her 'ass kicking' steel toed boots then marched to the door and paused. She turned back to where Feral and Bernie were sitting and pulled her hair back into a ponytail, "C'mon girls. Let's go get my car."

She felt insanely badass for such a lowly adventure, but her eyes were aflame with a passion she normally never had. Bernie hopped on the back of Feral and the hell hound trotted after the feisty blonde. They went right over to the apartment labeled 4A and she banged on the door, hard. Raj, the amber eyed soul sucker answered and went as shy as little boy. He bowed his wide eyes and backed away from the door, "Hey… Big Bad… me and the girls are going to get my car back. Tell Leo that I'll be back soon."

Sheldon stood from the far seat on a brown leather couch and looked at her with almost glowing blue eyes, "Do I look like a carrier pigeon? If you wish for a message to be 'flown' to Leonard then your message is best given to either Rajesh or Wolowitz. One is of a vampire family that can move nearly faster than thought and the other can turn this Jenga piece into an actual carrier pigeon, yet the location of Leonard is unknown so your message will be in vain."

Wolowitz shook his head, "Sheldon, your insults would be hilarious if you didn't detail it out so much. Look, Pen, we don't know where Leonard is. He just shows up and we follow him into battle. If you really want to find him, just do something he'd have to show up to stop. OH. OH… may I suggest stabbing Sheldon in the face!" Sheldon allowed a deep growl to emit from his chest as he sat back down and Wolowitz smiled innocently while moving yet another Jenga log from the tower and back at the top.

Penny shook her head while contemplating her next move. She watched Bernie hop off Feral and head to the coffee table that almost towered over her and with one extended hoof she yanked the table up and everything on top of it slammed into the small bookshelf beside the door then she put it back gently. Wolowitz swallowed and looked down at her, "I'm sorry, Bern, but that's really all we know. The guy doesn't open up at all." He looks up at the blonde, "He won't even tell us why he fell from Heaven. Real close to the sleeve kinda guy."

Penny sighed and looked down at Feral then back, "Well, I'm sure if one of you kind gentleman would like to go WITH me to get my car; he wouldn't get his wings in a pickle."

* * *

As Feral trots in front a few yards ahead, Penny walks with her arms crossed in front of her chest with Sheldon walking with his mouth pursed in defeat. The three men played Rock-Paper-Scissor-Lizard-Spock and Sheldon lost, using Spock all three times.

"You know, you are sooooOOo predictable and I just met you."

Sheldon's eyes glimmered in the darkness of the night just a bit when it snapped her way, "What is so special about a motor vehicle that you actually named it?"

Penny felt the chill of the Californian air and hugged herself, "Me and my dad rebuilt that car together. It was the last thing he and I ever did. He taught me everything I know about motors and the entire system of a car. I could pull apart an internal combustion engine from a Mercedes Benz and put it back together without even needing a manual because of him. He believed in me when everyone else thought I was some White-trash, Ice Queen. H-he used to call me Slugger."

Sheldon's eyes cut over to her in sympathy then back forward. He began taking off his ugly brown jacket and draped it over the blonde's shoulders and spoke, "That's how it was with my Papaw and Memaw. They were the only ones who truly saw my intellect as a gift and not some miracle from a deity. Papaw would give me random parts from fixing tractors for when I was trying to build my EKG machine in my room. Lost my twin sister's guinea pig, Snowball, but… he believed I could do it. When he passed, I felt as if I lost my father; a real father… instead of the one that drank and yelled and hit and threw things. Memaw was just as supportive and she became the only one who wouldn't judge me; even when I moved to Pasadena."

Penny smiled and hugged the jacket around her as the two continued to walk. The beach was further than they thought but it was good exercise. All was heard between them were Feral's claws clicking against the sidewalk and their legs shifting as they walked. Penny took in a breath and asked, "How did you become a werewolf?"

Sheldon reached one hand up and rubbed the back of his neck and groaned a little, "During Comicon, I left a hotel after winning first place in a costume contest in my Loki outfit and was going to catch a bus when I heard someone groaning for help. I side step to a small alley and see a man reaching his arm out towards me, but it soon went limp. Well, I go over to check his pulse and could barely find it, so I turn and stand to pull out my phone and the lifeless man springs up and rips the flesh off my calf muscle. I fall but not before swinging my makeshift scepter against the beast's head. It doesn't do anything but deter him from taking another bite before the bus pulls into the stop and scares the monster off. A few weeks later, I found myself naked in a field with a little girl's jacket gripped in my hand. Leonard appeared before me then and has shown me how to handle my 'wolven' side since it gets out of control when my emotions become an issue."

Penny looked at him, "Like your anger, right?"

Sheldon nodded without looking at her, "Yes, but not just anger. It's particularly worse when I am… aroused."

Penny grins and looks back forward, "Yeah. Whose wolf DOESN'T get rowdy?"

Sheldon shook his head, "We are two different creatures. I am the logical and he the intuitive. There are sides of the wolf that I have yet to master. I'm afraid I am not as knowledgeable about… some aspects that the wolf does."

Penny scrunched her nose and she heard Feral say, "It means the wolf is a stud and the man is a virgin. His wolf-side is getting blue balls and very very frustrated." The hell hound laughed as she kept trotting and the blonde looked over at the now blushing werewolf.

"Hey… I found it!" Feral called.

"Don't worry about it, Wolfy. I'm sure there is a little piggy out there just waiting for you to sink your teeth into…" Penny leaned into him and she whispered softly, "… and you'll make her go 'Wee Wee Wee' all the way." She gave him a big grin and a wink before jogging in the direction Feral had bellowed leaving Sheldon a deeper shade of red.

Penny saw Feral near the back of Slugger and she smiled at her beautiful car. She dug the key from her pocket and was half way there when a skeleton of a worm exploded from underneath the road. The tip of its skull rose into the night sky and its pointed beak silhouetted against the moon. The point of the skull bent down and pointed towards her then dived. Penny screamed and was tackled out of the way towards the car. The skull bashed into the concrete then lurched its body from the first hole and lifted its head and looked towards where the woman was taken.

A black furred wolf standing 13 foot tall with voltaic, ice blue eyes set Penny down from his monstrous jaws. She stepped backwards behind the wolf and saw a huge dragon's foot step beside the wolf and her jaw dropped to the ground. She just wanted her car. She swallowed deeply and thought to herself, 'I'm not the dragon… I'm the damn damsel.'


	3. Chapter 3

Penny looked over at her car and back at the snake skeleton thingie. Its eye sockets were empty, but it felt like it was staring right at her. She had a good ten yard sprint to her car and even with her front line of a huge wolf and a shape-shifting hell hound, she wasn't sure if she could make it.

Suddenly, Penny bolted for her car and the creature's bones cut into the pavement as made a quick movement to watch the blonde, and then it dove down towards her. Penny kept running and screamed as the pointed head careened towards her. The head stopped mere inches from her and she looked behind it to see Feral smile with her dragon form. The hell hound slung the creature over her head and slammed it to the ground and over her head again. The second impact made the creature panic and flicked its tail out of the grip of the dragon and buried itself into the pavement.

Penny made it to her car and fumbled with the keys a bit before driving it in and turning it. She heard crackling of rock behind her and turned fast to see a three-spiked dorsal fin wave in front of her. She spun to enter her car, but a slick tail of bones shot out from the black concrete and slammed into her; sending her flying back first. She couldn't scream at the unknowing destination that she was taking backwards for the wind was knocked out of her. She was caught like a delicate egg by a leathery webbing of a dragon's wing. Feral maneuvered the limb so that Penny fell to her feet, softly.

Penny grabbed her stomach and looked over at the dragon now shifting to a black, metallic saber tooth tiger, "Thanks!"

The white pair of eyes gave her a wink and Penny looked out to see the bone creature playing tag with a wolfed out Sheldon. Eventually, the wolf loses his footing and gets batted into the air. He slams through a trashcan and the wall of a brick house bathroom. Penny's heart stops and she screams, "SHELDON!"

The scream brings the attention of the bone creature to her and she receives a 'Really' look from the saber tooth tiger. Penny scrunches her face, "S-sorry."

The skeleton drives itself down into the ground. There was a slight tremor of the ground below her feet and she swallowed, looking around for the spikes of bone coming up like a shark's fin. She didn't want to move. She felt that the creature couldn't pinpoint her if she didn't move an inch.

The creature didn't surface and Penny looked around, barely turning her neck. Feral, not moving as well, whispered with a callous grumble behind the human arm long canines, "You need to get to your car and go get the others. I'll grab its attention and you make a run for it. NO BUTs." She growled seeing the hesitation on the blonde's face.

Penny gave a quick nod then the metallic saber tooth bolted towards the debris that Sheldon was under. She saw the boney quills tear through the concrete and twisting to head towards the shape-shifter then Penny sprinted towards Slugger. She didn't see the quills behind her do a quick turn and go under the pavement in her direction.

The blonde didn't even make it ten feet before the boned snake drove itself in and through the black and chrome Charger. The twisted metal flipped in the air and thundered against the crumbled lines of pavement made by the beast. It loomed over her and she suddenly blacked out.

* * *

Feral stopped before she could make it to Sheldon because a sudden pulse of some powerful static buildup grabbed her attention. She turned and shifted back to her slit mouthed form to stare at the pool of shadow growing out from the point of origin of the blonde. Feral jumped back to avoid the wash of the darkness and it stopped growing just at the edge of the sidewalk heading towards the beach.

An entity of black miasma drained off the back of the blonde and rose well above her and the skeleton creature. The phantom looked ghostly as the shadowed form smoked into the form of a snake-like dragon. Its ribs showed with only a thin, leathery shade covering them with a long, smoky spinal fin drooping from its back. It had four arms with the slim finger bones over a foot long and bone like. Its muzzle was long and stocky with thick, needle-like fangs. Its eyes were dark and sunken in as if it were dead for a long time. The snake-ish abdomen flowed from Penny's body right into the ground around her.

The shaded puddle absorbed itself around the pale colored bones of the skeleton and soon covered it completely. It rose from the ground to become face to face with the dark ghost dragon. It was then that Feral floated off the ground then rushed towards the base of the blackened soul to find the blonde. She was met with eyes that erupted in fire. The girl's pupils were slit and rolls of flame drifted out into nothing but smoke.

The hell hound froze in mid air and the burning eyes fell back to the skeleton. The sound of cracking rung out in the air and Feral watched the bones of the snake beast beginning to crack and twitch as it was being balled inside the hands of the dragon shadow until it was nothing but a crushed, dusty disk of bone.

Sheldon, naked and human, was holding the side of his arm that was gushing blood as he moved from the ruble and stopped on the dime to the sight of a towering darkness. He looked down at the black fog at his feet then looked back up and whispered, "Penny…"

* * *

_Penny opened her eyes to nothingness. A room of pure darkness no matter what direction she looked. She tried to move and found herself unable to. The dark was thick and seemed to being trying to suffocate her every move and not just her breathing. The feeling of horror began to take her over as she felt her arms being constricted. She struggled against the darkness and shut her eyes tightly while screaming for help inside her mind._

_A blare of white light shone down and expanded. She was on the edge of the light and the grip of the blackness loosened. She looked down the way where the light expanded and her heart skipped a few beats. There, in his old overalls and muddy boots, was her father looking right at her. She gasped an inhale before running full speed right to him. The closer she got, the clearer his face got. She could see his smiling face when she launched herself into him and he caught her in a big hug that spun them both._

_She pulled away and wiped away the tears that had fallen. She spoke and her voice echoed deeply even though where they stood was wall-less, "Dad. What is this place?"_

_He pinched her chin with his thumb and index finger like it did when she was young and gave a sigh, "Penny, you finally know what you are and I'm sorry I never told you. I wanted you to live normally without the pain and anguish that the dragon born will always experience. Where you are now is in your subconscious and I want you to listen to me. What I'm going to tell you will not make sense, but you must believe that it is the truth. You are a danger not only to yourself, but to all the living things on this Earth. I was your Teigiamas or your 'Positive'. I kept your fear and anger from overcoming you. I kept the dark fall from gripping your heart… but now I can no longer protect you." He took her cheeks in his hands and smiled softly, "My little Slugger… I want you to look down at your shadow and tell me what you see."_

_Penny took a step back and looked down and saw that she had no shadow. She looked around in a panic and the edge of darkness slipping into the white light and connected to the bottom of her feet. She took a tumbling step backwards to look up at a tower, dark, and menacing looking dragon looking at her with equally darkened eyes that seemed caved in. She looked down at the haze of blackness now a part of her and she could almost feel the dragon's thoughts. They were nothing but whispered growls. She looked backed up at the dragon and felt herself going numb as the voices got louder and the darkness began to close in._

_Her father put his hands on her shoulder and began to speak to her, "You see? I cannot protect you any longer, but you have a new Teigiamas…" Her father's hands left her shoulders and her body began to go cold. Then… a rumbling growl grew from behind her and a black werewolf moved to her side breaking the numbness. A dragon with two sets of eyes spat out a bright white fire to drive the darkness far from her as it swooped down to land right beside her. Bernie hopped off the dragon's back and began punching at the shade attached to her feet, but couldn't break the line. _

_A smile drifted on her face, "What took you so long?"_

_The wolf smiled at her as the hell hound shifted to her humanish form and winked, "We forgot to pack a flashlight." _

_She shifted to a black unicorn with a flaming mane, tail, hocks, and forelock then charged, horn first, towards the dragon with Sheldon growling and sprinting beside her. The ground rumbled beside her then folded and cut through the curve of darkness and Raj, with Howard waving his hands on his back, landed behind her. She felt her strength returning but not quite free until Leonard fell to the ground right in front of her with a spear made of light shoved into the ground. His wings were a stream of sheer white light and seemed to be shattering right out of his back. The strike to the ground created an expanding dome of illumination that soon devoured the dark dragon and releasing her from its grip._

* * *

Penny's eyes slowly opened as voices were blurred to her hearing. She heard a soft voice that gently sung to her, "Don't get up too fast. Just rest for a bit."

Her eyes opened slowly and saw Leonard, Raj, and a stuffed bull looking down at her. She was lying on her back on the pavement, she could tell, and her head felt so empty. Empty from the fear and anxiety she had felt in her… dream? What the hell WAS that?

She felt her eyes water as she thought of her father and she got antsy. She slowly pushed herself up and the two men and stuffed animal helped her sit all the way up. She saw Howard fixing all the damage the bone creature did. She saw the pieces of her car lying all over the parking lot as the two men helped her to her feet, "Thanks, guys. Maybe one day, you'll explain what the hell just happened."

Leonard looked at Raj then back at her, "Just know this… we're all glad you're on our side."

She gave him a weakened smile and missed the looks the men were giving each other as she moved towards a half of Slugger where Sheldon, wearing long sleeve shirt as a skirt, and Feral, as her bull terrier form, were standing and talking about something. When she approached them, they stopped and gave her a relieved look.

Sheldon rubbed his newly healed slashes on his arm and spoke soundly, "I'm happy to see you unscathed. I would like to say that your demonstration of power was quite bone chilling and I wish to not be as close to it the next time."

Penny had to do a double take at a half naked Sheldon. He was quite slim, but wide and tone. He had scars all over his body with some much deeper than the others especially the one that started from his chest and drug over his shoulder in stripes of four. She swallowed and looked at him in the icy blue eyes, "I think I'll stick to being a damsel for right now."

Feral wagged her tail, "We're sorry about your car. Howard wanted to try and put it back together, but he didn't believe it would be safe enough to drive afterwards."

Sheldon sniffed, "Alchemy… such a primitive demonstration of hocus pocus."

Howard's voice squeaked from behind them, "HEY… I heard that, you flea bag! Let's see YOU make a wave of fire from a cup of water."

Sheldon turned around showing his tone and also scarred back to the blonde and yelled, "You want to do something of importance; why not turn a cup of water into a Doctorate."

The two mindlessly spat insults at one another as Penny smiled then started to daydream. Her father had known about her being a dragon born and he knew how to keep the dark dragon at bay. Her eyes shifted to where Raj and Leonard were speaking, huddled into one another. The Indian gave a sharp nod and Leonard blinked out of sight in a flashing snap of light. She wondered that if her father knew that much… how much did THESE guys know. The smile faded from her lips as the feeling of the darkness began to itch in the back of her throat.


End file.
